In the wake of a school massacre in March in which 16 died, a courthouse shooting and numerous other gun deaths, all political parties have agreed the rules need to be severely tightened.

[efoods]There are ten million registered guns in the country and an estimated 10 million more illegal ones.

In addition to a centralised federal weapons register, officials want “biometric security” barriers for gun vaults and technology that would limit the use of pistols and revolvers to their owners.

Tim Kretschmer, 17, killed 15 people before shooting himself in a bloodbath at his former school near Stuttgart last month.

“There are interesting technical possibilities,” said interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who is in talks with hunting groups and target-shooting associations.

Last week, a 60-year-old gunman opened fire in a courtroom in Bavaria, killing his sister-in-law and then himself in what police described as an inheritance dispute among seven siblings. Police say the shooter had a gun license.